This panel explores how literature represents human subjectivity through interspecies relationships, to investigate how we produce ourselves by producing the animal producing us. To examine human-animal relations is to unearth the roots of what we understand today as the human. In the imperial/colonial context of the nineteenth-century, the representation of interspecies relationships (intimate or antagonistic) may establish the human/e as the rightful subject of dominion. At the same time, representations of animals may contest this material-semiotic imperialization. Using the works of authors like Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Joseph Conrad, H. Rider Haggard, among others, we ask questions like: what are the connections between our concept of human empires—and relatedly, human rights—and evolving attitudes towards non-human animals? How does the century’s “civilized,” “humane” subject embody those rights by the management—social, cultural, legal and otherwise—of his relationships to “lower creation”? Approaches using affect theory and/or cultural, legal, or science studies are particularly welcome.

The 43rd annual convention will be held March 15-18th in Rochester, New York at the
Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown, located minutes away from convenient air, bus, and train transportation options for attendees. St. John Fisher College will serve as the host college, and the diverse array of area institutions are coordinating with conference organizers to sponsor various activities, such as celebrated keynote speakers, local events, and fiction readings.

Building upon the excellence of past NeMLA conferences, the association continues to grow as a vibrant community of scholars, thanks to the wide array of intellectual and cultural opportunities at every venue. Compact yet diverse, Rochester also boasts important historical connections; it is the site of the home, publication operations, and orations of Frederick Douglass, where he edited the North Star, as well as his eponymous periodical, and delivered the speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. Visitors can explore the houses of abolitionist, suffragette, and reformer Susan B. Anthony and the inventor of devices popularizing photography, George Eastman, as well as shopping and eateries; attendees will also be within reach of the beautiful Finger Lakes region, known for its local wineries.

Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA session; however, panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar). Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.